


Before the Parade Passes By

by impravidus



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Advice, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Grief/Mourning, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark Friendship (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Reminiscing, Teen Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23428984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impravidus/pseuds/impravidus
Summary: “How can I cry over a man that I can’t even remember?”Morgan finds console in Peter on the tenth anniversary of The Snap.
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 126





	Before the Parade Passes By

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Areias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areias/gifts).



It’s the tenth anniversary of The Snap, and fifteen year old Morgan Stark stares blankly at her mirror.

She feels… numb. It’s the empty kind of numb. The dull kind of numb where she feels nothing but a low hum in her chest and the sort of queasy that happens when she drinks too much sprite and eats five Olive Garden breadsticks before going to homecoming.

She’s in a stiff red dress with her hair in a french braid and those stupid sparkly silver heels that her mom made her wear for their Christmas card. She can hear people downstairs talking, hesitantly joking, letting out nostalgic, sad laughter. She can smell all the foods that people told her were her father’s favorites. She can just feel the rustle and bustle happening downstairs where everyone pretends that everything is fine while they remember the man who saved the universe.

She goes to sit on the top of the staircase, looking down through the railing at all the people that mattered to her father, and now to her.

There’s a gentle thump as the wooden stair next to her creaks.

She looks up to Peter Parker, who sits next to her. The man sports a maroon suit and is holding a shirley temple. 

“Hey, Peter,” Morgan croaks out.

“Hey, Morgan,” he replies softly.

“Enjoying the party?” she asks.

“As best as I can,” he replies.

They sit in silence.

“How can I cry over a man that I can’t even remember?”

Peter purses his lips. “You know, my parents died in a plane crash when I was four.”

Morgan looks up, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Yeah. Business trip. It was supposed to be a weekend conference in Singapore, and then when they got back, we were gonna have taco night. We always had taco night after they had their trips. They weren’t good tacos. It was just with the packet taco seasoning and iceberg lettuce and bagged “Mexican blend” cheese from the bodega down the street but I… I don’t know. I liked taco night. Sitting there, making your tacos with your parents, making a mess, it’s… it was nice. It was fun.”

He shakes his head. “Anyways, they didn’t come back for taco night, and I had to stay with my Uncle Ben and Aunt May for longer than expected.” He pauses. “A lot longer.” He takes a shaky gulp. “I, uh, I didn’t really get it. I didn’t get why I couldn’t see my parents. Why everyone was so tense. Why everyone kept crying. They said they went to heaven, but I was just waiting for them to come back. They tried to explain to me that no one comes back from heaven, but I… I don’t know, I just,” he chuckles uncomfortably. “I was too young to get what death really meant.

“And I guess that’s the hardest part about tragedy at a young age. You’re too young for all of it. Trauma shouldn’t happen to little kids, but it does, and it’s harder to navigate because their brains aren’t even fully formed and then it’s like, what do you tell this child that their whole world is gone because it’s all gonna change?”

He shakes his head again. “Uh, anyways, I, uh, I didn’t really get it until I was older, but by the time that I was that age, I had grown accustomed to the life I had. I mean, it’s all I could really remember. And that’s what makes it so hard when something really crappy happens to you really young is that you move on. It’s hard for anyone to move on, but when you’re little, it’s easier to acclimate to a new life. You’re so used to change, that more change just makes more sense.”

He turns to face Morgan. “I don’t remember what my parent’s voices sound like. I don’t remember what my dad’s cologne smells like or what my mom’s hugs feel like or what... or what those tacos tasted like. And it makes you feel really bad. It makes you feel like a terrible person. A terrible child. Because how the hell can you forget those things? They’re so important. They’re everything that made that person. But it’s… you can’t blame yourself. You can’t blame yourself for only remembering a memory because that’s all you have. You have it really hard because you see his face plastered everywhere and are constantly reminded of the person he was and the things that he did, but know that it’s not your fault that you don’t remember.”

Morgan stares at her hands, tears prickling in her eyes. “I just wish I could have known him.” She looks to him with a solemn gaze. “Can you tell me about him?”

“Do you want the good stuff, the bad stuff or the stuff that I remember most?”

“All of the above?”

Peter nodded. “The good stuff. Well I, I can think of one story. For six straight, he was only craving extra spicy General Tso chicken and lo mein, and that just happened to be the summer that I was staying at the Compound while my Aunt was at her friend’s bachelorette party and wedding, so I ended up eating Chinese takeout for lunch and dinner every day. Your father couldn’t handle his spice. He… he loved the taste, but he was a big baby about it. He had to drink three sips of milk between each bite. I know I’m not one to talk considering Flaming Hot Cheetos set my mouth on fire after the spider bite. Not the point.

“So, we would eat all this Chinese food, but he would have to stop everything he was doing to eat this chicken, so we would set down everything we were working on and sit in the kitchen with a gallon of milk just so he could eat it. He said that the spice enhanced his left parietal cortex and sparked breakthroughs.”

“Did it?” Morgan asks.

“Surprisingly, yeah. That was some of the best work that we did.”

“And the bad?” 

Peter grimaces. “He wasn’t always the guy that everyone always makes him up to be. He could be very focused on the end goal. He… he didn’t listen. He didn’t like to listen to anyone he disagreed with. He was stubborn and held his ground. He put his foot down and stood by his beliefs. He always tried to have the best intentions, but he didn’t always execute it well.”

Peter shrugs. “But everyone has their flaws. He was a man who cared deeply for everything he did. He was passionate and tenacious and diligent. When he put his mind to something, he would drop everything he was doing to finish it.”

“And the stuff you remember most?”

Peter smiles softly. “I remember the way he would groggily throw things in my general direction because he knew I would catch it and he found it funny. I remember how he would heckle every movie I would choose to watch because they were vapid and shallow. I remember how he would put on the ugliest sweater vests when we would go out in public so no one would recognize him. I remember the way he ruffled my hair and made up terrible nicknames and stifled a laugh and grin when I made pop culture references. I remember the way my ribs ached when we joked in the lab and were running on three hours of sleep. I remember him telling me that he was proud of me for the first time and following it with a “but don’t let it go to you big ego,” but the way he smiled, I knew he only said it to cover up his vulnerability. I remember… I remember the way he hugged me on Titan and trying to hold him when he…” He stops. “I remember a lot of things. And I’m sorry that you can’t.”

“He really loved you,” Morgan says. “He talked about you a lot. I don’t… I don’t remember much, but I remember the stories. He would tell them to me before I went to bed. The stories about Spider-Man and Peter Parker. You were… you’re special.”

“He really loved you too,” Peter replies.

Morgan nods, and rests her head on Peter’s should, a warm tear falling down her cheek. “I miss him.”

“I miss him too.”

And they stayed there for a while. They just listened to all the stories being shared about the man who saved the universe, and the man who was theirs.


End file.
